This Dying World
by celestialthing
Summary: Ivan cannot escape the fact that the planet Earth is on its last legs. He cannot unsee the experiences he had, the dangers he'd recall. Ivan wants to carry the burden of seeing everything for the group. Everything horrible is in his sight, and he lies to protect his group. [Apocalypse AU, human names.]


**Explanation: Depressing fanfictions are unfortunately still being thought out. So instead of killing off characters left and right, let's do an apocalypse ravaged world with disease at every corner. It's better than it sounds.**

 **Erika - Liechtenstein**

 **Eduard - Estonia**

 **Raivis - Latvia**

 **Toris - Lithuania**

 **Figure the rest out.**

* * *

 **This Dying World**

"Ugh, stop it, whatever you're plotting," Natalia split up Eduard's and Ivan's silent war going on between them as they crammed into the car that desperately needing a mechanic. Toris slammed the door closed.

Eduard sighed, "I would've rather chosen death, now that I'm thinking about you people." He adjusted his almost cracked glasses that were ready to shatter. Raivis squeezed by the door to let Iryna sit, getting more squished than usual.

"Well, Eduard, I'm glad you chose life. The door's not locked, however," Natalia pointed out, bothered by the size of their choice of transport. "Ivan, dear big brother, why would we need these three fools on our well established team?" She squinted.

Ivan spoke happily, "Sis, if worse comes to worst... Or if it goes to best and we all survive... We'll need them either way." Natalia grumbled, not liking her options if she turned out to live in this mess. With shorty, glasses, and servant boy taking up the space, the mood of the group diminished, even Iryna's hopeful attitude seemed to go away.

"How much farther until our next stop, Natalia?" Ivan asked the still furious person in the backseat trying to figure out a map key. She was getting more frustrated until she found the destination.

"It's ten miles to the next gas station. Do you really think this car can hold out? We did get this from a junkyard..."

Ivan frowned, "I'm sure. Just find the silver lining in things, Natalia. We might find a van, or at least a better car." Iryna nodded, humming a tune to herself. Natalia made a face, knowing this was one of the lullabies they used to calm her down when she was a kid. She crossed her arms and let them carry out their song.

A few miles later, with very few bumps in the road, Toris announced, "I see the station..." Raivis smiled gladly, waiting to stretch his legs.

"It's kind of odd, there's no signs of any kind of life in the area. Creepy," Eduard muttered. Natalia climbed over him.

"Oh, what a big deal. Nothing looks like it has life anymore. It always does," Natalia waited outside the station. "It has electricity, someone's got to be inside." She peered in the window, fearing for the worst.

Iryna warned, "Natalia, don't just smush your face against the glass! You know how there's all sorts of germs on there," She was serious about disease, as she took out a rag and wiped Natalia's face down.

"She's right. I mean, look at the guy standing in there. I bet he's just some old crazy man, like last time," Eduard stated.

"It can't hurt to try..." Toris muttered, opening the door, letting everyone in. The person inside raised an eyebrow.

He sighed, sitting down, "What? Are you here to capture me or something? I'll have you know I have survived that twice, had to escape my own comrades drowning me because they thought I had the disease, had to board up this place after walking across this whole country, and I don't really care about anyone else." He held up a handgun, shaking, "State your purpose."

"We're just here for gas, lunatic," Natalia angrily said.

The person laughed, "You think I'll just give you the gas? I don't care if humanity dies out because I don't provide you with gas. I still care about the economy." Iryna scanned the room and the person up and down.

The shelves were getting noticeably empty, and the lights flickered frequently. Cobwebs were piling up, and the man was shockingly thin. She could hear the scared cries of a younger person somewhere in the store, which spooked her.

"We have food and water. You'll have to come with us, though," Iryna stood tall, while most of the group were protesting, not wanting to give up space.

The person thought over this, and gave up, defeated, "Okay... Erika, you can come over here now..." The smaller girl perked up, smiling. The bow in her hair had disturbing red stains on it.

"All right, I'm ready for better food than snack cakes," Erika walked over to the group's side.

Vash tried not to look disappointed as he glanced at the group he would be going with, muttering something along the lines of, "Don't insult Twinkies..." and "Why haven't I died yet?"

"Vash, come on! They said they made room in the back!" She ran around excited, hobbling around on her legs. The group gathered, staring at her uneven footing.

Natalia started with, "She's limping? Why is her leg not working as well? She's weaker than the rest of us."

"Sis, don't be rude. She's very optimistic, I feel we should have them. Plus, the guy has gas and a gun. We have to have both," Iryna stated, pointing to the tense looking guy trying to be subtle about being ready to shoot them all.

At least Natalia seemed to have looked a little happier seeing her run around.

"Ivan, let's go now. This place is making me nervous," Raivis directly said to him, seeing the wilting flowers Erika was running around in. She had an expression of joy on her face. "Erika's kind of creeping me out, too. Why is she acting like she won't die at any minute?"

"Come on, guys, Erika's just a go-getter with some childish spirit. Let her have her fun. It may be her last time," Iryna argued softly.

Vash admitted, "She doesn't know, actually." The group was surprised for a moment. "She's been living here her whole life, I assume. I rescued her from a group of infected people. This is the first time she's seen the Earth, in its worst state. She thinks it's beautiful. I don't want her to know, to lose her faith in us. Please, keep it secret from her. Her happiness keeps me going."

Eduard agreed for a bit, "I've bet she's seen a lot more than us. Even if she doesn't know how far we've come to dying." Iryna laughed cheerfully.

"That's the spirit! Now, let's go to the next city. Maybe we'll find a boat, and go to an island and just relax," Iryna said blissfully, imagining a warm island full of fresh fruit and green grass.

"Sounds great..." Ivan said, pumping gas into the car, careful to not get any on his clothes. His worries were confirmed. The engine was growing to be overheated, the cooler was miles from giving out. There was nothing in sight.

Vash returned from the store with a few boxes. "These are full of snacks. They're too sweet for my taste, but one box has canned fruit and beef jerky. It's all we have..." Natalie immediately carried some of the boxes.

"Finally. I swear the rations aren't real meat..." Natalia mumbled, unloading the boxes in plastic bags.

Iryna smiled, "What's the sudden trust, lil' Nat?"

"Trusting someone isn't appreciating the fact they have food," Natalia waved at Ivan to signal that they were ready to go. They all filed into the car. After a minute or two, the car went back on the road.

"Who knows? Maybe the next town has a hotel to sleep in," Ivan hoped. Eduard chuckled.

He tried to make a point, as well, "Those are full of bedbugs and infected people, I heard." Nobody could argue or agree with him. He didn't back it up, he just left the fact there that there was no place for them to stay.

Erika spoke with the group, "What about a field of colorful flowers?" Vash smiled at her.

"That would be nice..." Ivan tried to ignore what he wanted to see.

Ivan had never saw a field of alive and growing flowers before in his life.


End file.
